Thursday, September 10, 2009

Maybe There Won't Always Be An England, Part 8

Hyperactive children and those with attention-deficit disorders can now queue jump at theme parks because they cannot cope with the stress of waiting.

Tourist boards are offering the privilege so that they can skip the queue with their friends.

Teachers have criticised the scheme, saying that it undermines their efforts to encourage patience and it would be better for children with ADHD, attention deficit and hyperactive disorder, to learn how to wait.

Children with ADHD, which was recognised as a psychiatric condition 15 years ago, are given passes in most theme parks in the UK and many abroad if they can prove that they have the condition. . .

A spokeswoman for Thorpe Park in Surrey would not say how many people had applied for the special wristbands to avoid the queues.

"Any guest that can provide a letter [from the Department for Work and Pensions] or a letter from their doctor that describes their illness or disability and states that they cannot stand in a queue is provided with a priority wristband."

2 comments:

As a people evolve, so must the maladies that afflict them. I wonder, ADHD, is it a disease of affluence?

Please note, this ADHD and ADD generation is going to be one frustrated generation when, in about sixty years, they are falling all over each other in a mad rush not to have to wait in line for a bypass operation or a hip replacement.

I only hope I am around to laugh at them when it happens! Considering I'll be somewhat in the triple digits it is not likely. However I plan to have my hips replaced before the current ADD generation hits middle age, just to be on the safe side.